Yan Li, Yaolin Wang's cousin, holds Jielin Wang, Wang's sister, in front of Yaolin's casket before it went underground during the burial service on Oct.11. Jielin was the last one to leave after the casket was in the ground.

Yan Li, Yaolin Wang's cousin, holds Jielin Wang, Wang's sister, in front of Yaolin's casket before it went underground during the burial service on Oct.11. Jielin was the last one to leave after the casket was in the ground.

Friends regret not calling the police, describe a pattern of repeated abuse

Story by Tiantian Zhang

Photos by Tiantian Zhang

Designed by James Benedict

A sweater, skirt, tights and a pair of black velvet gloves concealed the stab wounds.

Yaolin Wang’s family and friends lined up to see her for the last time. In a sudden outburst, her mother threw herself on the casket and tried to lift her daughter’s high collar, wanting to see the injuries.

Her other daughter, Jielin recalls this story and said she pulled her mom back.

“Mom, don’t,” she said.

Story by Tiantian Zhang

Photos by Tiantian Zhang

Designed by James Benedict

“Just let me comb through her hair one more time,” Yaolin’s mother said through tears.

When friends first heard the news that Yaolin, a 21-year-old transfer student from China, was dead, they assumed Daniel Xiao was her killer, even before police confirmed.

A close friend heard her crying when Daniel locked her out of her apartment. A roommate in Seattle saw the welts he left on her body. A friend in Bloomington let her stay in her apartment when she needed shelter.

When her friends put the bits of information they each had together, the image of an abuser came into focus. Now they helplessly relive the moments that could have kept Yaolin alive.

Courtesy PhotoFamily of Yaolin Wang remember her as proud, diligent and driven. Wang was murdered on Sept. 30 from stab wounds. She was a junior that transferred to IU this fall to pursue a degree in business.

Police first responded to a 911 call from the Stratum apartments near College Mall. Daniel’s body had been found in a stairwell. When police arrived, they discovered Yaolin Yaolin’s body on a nearby patio.

From the beginning, officers worked under the assumption the case was a murder-suicide. Police were initially led to believe the two were in a “mutually romantic relationship,” said Capt. Joe Qualters of the Bloomington Police Department during press time.

Accounts from close friends detail a pattern of abuse in the months following. Yaolin never told her family or the police.

As the investigation continued, police began to uncover evidence that led them to believe Daniel was forcing the relationship.

“This other side emerged about how controlling he was,” Qualters said.

Yaolin and Daniel met earlier this year during their spring semester, according to a police statement. Both were students at North Seattle College. Soon after they met, Daniel became Yaolin’s second roommate.

Accounts from close friends detail a pattern of abuse in the months following. Yaolin never told her family or the police.

Daniel arrived in Bloomington on Aug. 22, according to a police statement, where he stayed in Yaolin’s apartment. He left again on Sept. 19, saying he intended to go back to school.

Daniel reappeared in Bloomington unannounced on Sept. 30. Later that evening, she was dead, allegedly stabbed to death by Daniel.

Family and friends of Yaolin Wang place flowers on her casket before it was buried during Yaolin's funeral on Oct. 11.

“I pray to God that she didn’t suffer,” said Eric Powell, co-owner of The Funeral Chapel of Powell and Deckard.

Powell was responsible for dressing Yaolin’s body for the funeral. He said it was apparent her body had been through a lot of trauma. But the details of her wounds are unknown — the Monroe County coroner failed to respond to multiple requests for comment.

After seeing Yaolin’s body, Powell went home and hugged his own daughter. He thanked God he still could, knowing Yaolin’s father no longer could do the same.

Daniel reappeared in Bloomington unannounced on Sept. 30. Later that evening, she was dead, allegedly stabbed to death by Daniel.

A Pattern of Abuse

Gloria, Yaolin’s roommate in Seattle, saw Daniel harass Yaolin and force himself into her room against her will. She heard the fighting in Yaolin’s room. When the noise died down, Daniel would come out and act like nothing happened.

Gloria, who would not give her last name, never suspected Daniel was abusive until the night he pushed and threatened her.

That night, the yelling started again. Except this time, Gloria could hear someone being pushed on to a dresser and Yaolin’s screaming. She said the fight no longer seemed normal.

Gloria walked up to Yaolin’s door and knocked.

When Yaolin opened the door, Gloria could see a raised red mark on Yaolin’s forehead and finger marks on her waist. “It’s OK,” Yaolin said to her. “Everything is fine.”

Daniel appeared and seemed irritated. His expression was unfamiliar and scared Gloria. Still, she told him she couldn’t tolerate such loud, physical violence. Daniel shoved Gloria with both hands.

She was shocked, scared and then cried out loud. Yaolin jumped in front of her, protecting her from Daniel.

When she said she wanted to call the police, Daniel threatened “Don’t you dare call police, my family is powerful back in China.”

The police were never called.

“Don’t you dare call police, my family is powerful back in China."

Daniel Xiao

Yaolin tried everything she could think of to get rid of Daniel. Knowing little about the American police system, Yaolin had told her friends she would rather tolerate the abuse, knowing the day would soon come when she could leave Seattle and Daniel behind.

That day came on July 18. At around 7 p.m., she was packing for a trip back to China. But Daniel wouldn’t let her leave.

After a couple of hours, Yaolin took her phone back, stole away to the bathroom and messaged her friends for help.

When Meghan got home and finally saw Yaolin’s messages, it was around midnight.

She called a cab and dragged a friend along with her to get Yaolin. When they arrived, Yaolin moved her suitcases out of her room one by one.

After Yaolin got in the cab, Daniel started calling her. She picked up.

Knowing little about the American police system, Yaolin had told her friends she would rather tolerate the abuse, knowing the day would soon come when she could leave Seattle and Daniel behind.

“If I don’t leave, are you going to kill me?” Meghan remembers her saying into the phone.

By the time they got back to Meghan’s place, it was 4 a.m. No one said much. Yaolin hung up another call from Daniel.

“I have to go back,” she said to Meghan.

Yaolin told Meghan she had left a suitcase at the apartment. Daniel said she would never see it again.

No one seems to know what happened after Yaolin went back to the apartment, except that she was able to get on a plane to the Beijing airport.

He hadn’t seen his daughter in a while. He was shocked when he first saw how bony Yaolin was when she walked up to him, her father said. Yaolin rushed into his chest.

Students listen to the pastor's eulogy before Yaolin Wang's burial service on Oct.11.

“How did you become so thin?” he asked. She began to cry.

“Did you miss home?”

She nodded.

“Did you have a fight with your classmates?”

She looked up, hesitated a moment.

“Nothing, now. I’m going to the new university. Everything will be fine now.”

Xu Gao, who shared a hotel room with Yaolin when they first arrived at IU, overheard a man on the phone, pleading with Yaolin to let him come to Bloomington.

She heard him promising that he would behave himself. So Yaolin caved, Gao said, and agreed to pick him up from the airport on Aug. 22.

Knowing Yaolin wanted to get rid of Daniel, Gao asked why she agreed to allow him to come to Bloomington. Yaolin didn’t expect things to be different. Yaolin told Gao she hoped when Daniel broke his promises, she would have a valid excuse to get rid of him.

“I will call police after I get back from school tonight. Even if the result is bad, even if I have to go back to China, even if I have to leave I will call police.”

Yaolin wrote Susan in a message.

Yaolin wanted to ask for the leasing office’s help. Her roommate discouraged her from making a scene. Yaolin called the office anyway, and someone came to disable the deadbolt on her door, Susan said.

Daniel was sitting in the living room, acting like nothing happened. She messaged her roommate again.

“I will call police after I get back from school tonight,” Yaolin told Susan in a message. “Even if the result is bad, even if I have to go back to China, even if I have to leave I will call police.”

Susan tried persuade Yaolin not to call.

“Listen to me, you are both students who have to go to school, no need to put police in this situation, right?” Susan said in a message to Yaolin.

“But you don’t know the situation I’m in,” Yaolin said. “I have no other way anymore.”

Again, she didn’t call the police.

Four days later, Gao received a message from Yaolin at 1:23 a.m.

“Are you awake? I got beaten.”

Gao asked Yaolin to come over. She said she couldn’t. Daniel was beating her and wouldn’t let her out of his sight.

Yaolin snuck out around 7 a.m. that morning and stayed in Gao’s apartment.

Soon after, her father came to visit from China to celebrate Yaolin’s 21st birthday. On the last day of her father’s visit, Daniel packed his suitcases and left the apartment. He told Susan he was going back to Seattle.

Yaolin thought it was over, until she walked out of her apartment the afternoon of Sept. 30 and saw Daniel standing outside. At 2:01 p.m. she messaged Susan.

“My nightmare is back again.”

“Are you awake? I got beaten.”

Yaolin wrote Gao in a message

Yaolin's Conversation with her Roomate on the Day of Her Murder.

Translated by Tiantian Zhang, Graphic by James Benedict

A screenshot of Yaolin's roomate Susan Zhang WeChat conversation with Yaolin on the day of her murder. Yaolin's messages are white and Susan's are green.

Scroll down for translations

My nightmare is back again.

He came back

WTH?

I don’t think I can take this anymore

What’s going on

Did you guys get back together?

Doesn’t he have to go to school (in Seattle)?

Cultural Divide

Yaolin thought about calling the police after Daniel came to Bloomington, when the abuse, detailed by her friends, began again.

Her roommate discouraged her repeatedly whenever she expressed a desire to call the police. With the little information everyone knew, they never saw the relationship as abusive.

“I just thought this was another normal case of a girl not being able to get rid of a guy,” Gao said.

Gao said she felt guilty, remembering many opportunities she could have saved Yaolin’s life. She thought about talking to someone at Counseling and Psychological Services at first. But now, after she got over the initial pain, Gao said she doesn’t want to let go of her guilt.

“I have to have a scar to remind me not to make the same mistake again,” Gao said.

Nancy Stockton, director of CAPS, said victims of abuse not reaching out for help is an almost universal pattern across cultures.

“The abuser’s control over the woman is nearly absolute,” Stockton said.

“I have to have a scar to remind me not to make the same mistake again,”

Xu Gao

As is often the case when students die, several people came to CAPS seeking counseling for Yaolin’s death. There is no Mandarin-speaking counselor at CAPS, though Stockton is actively seeking one. An after-hours contact number offers counseling in Mandarin.

Kai Lin, a researcher at the University of Delaware who has attended colleges both in China and the U.S., said there should be a system in place to offer support to international students from the moment they arrive on campus.

“Having that kind of social support is very, very important,” Lin said.

Lin was part of a team that published a study comparing American and Chinese students’ perceptions of intimate partner violence. One of the primary findings of the team’s research was that Chinese students perceive fewer actions as abuse.

Because fewer Chinese students see abuse as a crime, Lin said, they are also less likely to call the police. The study Lin worked on stated police in mainland China were less likely to intervene in cases of violence between couples.

“... Many police officers regard (intimate partner violence) as private matters beyond police responsibilities and often refuse to accept or process victims’ complaints,” according to the study.

Keri Viers, wife of Associate Vice President for International Services Christopher Viers, hugs Yaolin's mother after she put flowers on her daughter's casket during the burial service on Oct. 11.

Back to Living

At the funeral home, Meghan imagined the place where they kept Yaolin’s body would be dark and cold. But the room was filled with yellow light. There was a floral scent in the air.

Meghan saw Yaolin lying on the dressing table, covered by a cream-colored blanket. Yaolin’s eyelashes were curled neatly. Meghan was almost convinced Yaolin was just sleeping.

“She’s not dead,” she remembers thinking.

If Meghan was alone, she said she would have called Yaolin’s name over and over until she woke up.

Yaolin’s sister, too, could hardly believe her sister would never get up again.

During Jielin’s visit to Bloomington for the funeral, she picked up Yaolin’s belongings at the police station.

She froze when she saw the bag Yaolin was carrying the day of her death.

The leather tote bag, once deep blue, was covered with dried blood — her sister’s blood. Scrubbing the blood off, she began to cry.

Jielin remembered how much Yaolin hated vaccine shots when she was a little girl. She’d cry out, ‘It hurts.’

“I couldn’t imagine how much pain she must have been in when it happened.”

When she learned the details of her sister’s murder, Jielin couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw her little sister, alone and frightened, crying “Sister, help me, sister help me.”

She would give up anything — her own life, even — to have Yaolin back.

“I’d rather I took those stabs,” Jielin said.

Jielin floated through the days when she found out about her sister’s death as if she was dreaming.

Sitting in the airplane seat for the plane bound back to London from Indiana, forcing herself to accept her sister was gone forever, Jielin posted on her WeChat:

“If I fly a little bit higher, even higher, does that mean I could be closer to you?”

When she learned the details of her sister’s murder, Jielin couldn’t sleep. Every time she closed her eyes she saw her little sister, alone and frightened, crying “Sister, help me, sister help me